Sarah Keate is a fictional character, the protagonist in a series of medical mystery novels by American author Mignon G. Eberhart.

Overview

Keate, a nurse with a talent for solving crimes, was introduced in Eberhart's debut novel, ''

The Patient in Room 18 ''The Patient in Room 18'' is a 1929 mystery novel written by Mignon G. Eberhart. Eberhart's first published novel, it follows the adventures of Nurse Sarah Keate, who would later appear in six more of Eberhart's works, and became one of the mos ...

'' (1929), and later appeared in ''

While the Patient Slept ''While the Patient Slept'' is a 1935 comedy murder mystery film directed by Ray Enright starring Aline MacMahon as a nurse/crime sleuth and Guy Kibbee as her boyfriend and police detective. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Mig ...

'' (1930); ''The Mystery of Hunting's End'' (1930); ''From This Dark Stairway'' (1931); ''Murder by an Aristocrat'' (1932) (also published in 1934 as ''Murder of my Patient''); '' Wolf in Man's Clothing'' (1942); and ''Man Missing'' (1954), as well as in several short stories. Five of the seven novels and one of the stories were turned into movies in the 1930s. Eberhart was one of the most popular American mystery writers, producing 59 books between 1929 and 1988. Sarah Keate was one of her most famous characters. In fact, Keate proved to be Eberhart's only series sleuth, as the prolific author switched in the mid-1930s to writing mostly standalone novels, with no recurring characters. After that, she brought back Keate only rarely. Eberhart, however, continued to use medical settings and characters in the medical profession in her fiction. Sarah Keate is a single nurse, middle-aged or perhaps younger, who sometimes works in hospitals and sometimes in the homes of patients. In some of the stories, she works with detective Lance O'Leary. As an amateur sleuth, Keate gets involved in situations that are "closed community" mysteries, with a finite number of potential suspects. Author Ron Backer has observed that "wherever she is employed, murders seem to occur ... she is a shrewd observer of the suspects and the evidence".

Reception of the books

In a review of Eberhart's first novel, ''The Patient in Room 18'', Solomon Posen noted: "Eberhart's Sarah Keate RN spends a good deal of her time assisting detective O'Leary in solving a hospital murder mystery. However, in between discovering interesting objects, attending inquests and pursuing suspects, Miss Keate carries out the duties of a nursing supervisor efficiently and without complaints. She is totally free of the blemishes displayed by most fictional nurses". The second Nurse Keate novel won a $5000 Scotland Yard Prize, from the Crime Club booksellers association.

List of novels

* ''

'' (1929) * ''

'' (1930) * ''The Mystery of Hunting's End'' (1930) * ''From This Dark Stairway'' (1931) * ''

Murder by an Aristocrat ''Murder by an Aristocrat'' is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Lyle Talbot, Marguerite Churchill and Claire Dodd.Backer p.248 The film was based on a 1932 novel of the same title by Mignon G. Eberhart, wit ...

'' (1932) aka ''Murder of My Patient'' * '' Wolf in Man's Clothing'' (1942) * ''Man Missing'' (1954)

Film adaptations

Sarah Keate films: * ''

'', filmed in 1935 * ''

'' (based on ''Murder of My Patient''), filmed in 1936 * '' The Great Hospital Mystery'', filmed in 1937 * ''

'', filmed in 1938 * ''

Mystery House ''Mystery House'' is an adventure game released by On-Line Systems in 1980. It was designed, written and illustrated by Roberta Williams, and programmed by Ken Williams for the Apple II. ''Mystery House'' is the first graphical adventure ga ...

'' (based on ''The Mystery of Hunting's End''), filmed in 1938 * ''

The Dark Stairway ''The Dark Stairway'' is a 1938 British crime film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Hugh Williams, Chili Bouchier and Garry Marsh. The film was a quota quickie production, based on the 1931 novel ''From This Dark Stairway'' by Mignon ...

'' (based on ''From What Dark Stairway''), filmed in 1938

Reception

In discussing the shared characteristics of nurses as depicted in film, critic Julia Hallam noted that Sarah Keate was one of the "popular nurse sleuths who worked as private duty nurses for wealthy patients in their own homes and became embroiled in the mysterious goings-on of the mansions' other occupants. The nurses in these films display wit, mental acuity and courage; they are worldly wise, not easily taken in by outward appearances, yet are portrayed as sympathetic and kindly women ... By focusing on nurses as sleuths ... nurses are depicted as intelligent, rational women with logical powers of deduction". But the films were not as well received as the books, partly because they were considered sloppily written broad comedies rather than suspenseful mysteries. There was no consistency in these films even when it came to the character's name, which was presented in various productions as Sally Keating, Miss Keats, and Sara (without an h) Keate. Sarah Keate (with variations in her name) was portrayed in films by Aline MacMahon,

Jane Darwell Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...

Marguerite Churchill Marguerite Churchill (December 26, 1910 – January 9, 2000) was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in '' The Big Trail'' (1930). Early years She was ...

, and Ann Sheridan.Mel Gussow. "Mignon Eberhart, Novelist, 97; Blended Mystery and Romance". ''The New York Times'', Oct 9, 1996 pg. D19.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keate, Sarah Fictional nurses Fictional American nurses Literary characters introduced in 1929 Novel series Female characters in literature Fictional amateur detectives Fictional detectives Mystery novels by series American mystery novels American detective novels Novels set in the 1930s Novels set in the 1940s